Jacob de Wit (1695 – Amsterdam – 1754)

Allegory of transience

signed and dated on the column De Wit f. 1733
oil on canvas
50 ⅘ x 32 ⅞ inches (129 x 83 cm.)

Provenance:
With Louis C. Morton, Casa de las Subastas, Mexico, 2010

Jacob de Wit was born in Amsterdam. He received his early training when he was only nine years old from the painter Albert Spiers. At the age of thirteen he left for Antwerp to study with Jacob van Hall.  There he became an admirer of Rubens and copied his ceiling decoration in the Jesuit church. All of the original paintings have been destroyed by fire in 1718, so the drawn copies by De Wit are important documentary evidence.¹ Jacob De Wit eventually became the leading decorative painter in Holland. From 1717 on De Wit had ‘so much work on his hands that he scarcely knew were to begin’, according to the artist’s biographer Jacob van Gool.² One of De Wit’s specialties was grisaille that gives the illusion of a marble relief.  These grisailles are named ‘Witjes’, after the artist to whom they had brought such fame.  Many of the houses at the canals of Amsterdam are still adorned with ceiling paintings and door panels by Jacob de Wit.

In this charming picture we see five putti blowing bubbles in a landscape.  Putti blowing bubbles are often a symbol of the transience of human life, according to the motto ‘homo bulla’ (man is a bubble).  Below there are several objects, amongst them a crown and scepter, which are signs of power, while the shepherd’s staff may represent peasant life.  This implies Death makes no distinction between social classes, thus making kings and peasants equal.  On the right we see a globe, an object commonly featured in vanitas still life paintings.  There are also several attributes referring to the arts: a palette with paint and brushes, a plaster cast, sheets of music and musical instruments. The presence of these attributes could be interpreted in the context of vanity: the arts give us pleasure, but like life itself, the pleasure is only temporary, just as life.  Conversely, the combination of painter’s tools and symbols of transience may suggest that art possesses an enduring permanence that outlasts death. Not only his art, but also the fame of the artist could conquer death.³

A signed preliminary sketch for this painting exists in the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam (fig. 1).  It shows the same composition with very minor changes, mainly in the background.  The painting was unknown until it turned up very recently. In 1724 De Wit depicted the same subject in a slightly different composition.⁴ The most striking difference is that the earlier painting contains a skull. In our version De Wit decided to leave the skull out and replace it with a bust, which makes it less morbid. Apparently, De Wit liked this change, because in a later variation of the subject dated 1748 the skull is again omitted. (Christies, 11-09-2010).

At first sight, one would not perceive that the painting represents an allegory of transience. The joyful putti, the selection of delicate colors, and the spontaneous and fluent manner in which the painting is executed contribute to the light hearted scheme of decoration. Thus, De Wit succeeded in depicting a subject dealing with death and transience with a lightness and playfulness seldom seen.
 

Jacob de Wit
An allegory of transience
Drawing 220 x 128mm
Signed bottom left: J de Wit invt + F
Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen